The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for stuffing newspapers. Particularly the invention provides for stuffing newspapers at a high rate of speed and with an operating flexibility not heretofor possible.
Conventional newspaper stuffing machines include a plurality of fixed feeding stations disposed in a circular array and a plurality of pockets mounted on a rotor which is movable below the stations. In a conventional stuffing machine, at the first of the stations a jacket is fed into each of the pockets. As the rotor turns, the pockets carry the jackets past an opener station where the jackets are opened to prepare them to receive inserts. Subsequent stations have hoppers which feed inserts into each pocket as each pocket moves past the station. At a delivery station each pocket opens to drop the assembled paper onto a conveyor which carries the paper away for further processing. Newspaper stuffing machines of this general type are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,461,573; 2,634,971; 3,825,246; 3,874,649; 3,881,716; 3,953,018; and 4,168,828.
One such conventional newspaper stuffing machine has 16 stations: one jacket feeding station, one opener station, thirteen insert feeding stations and a delivery station. This stuffer is able to operate at a speed of about 20,000 newspapers per hour. An increase in the speed of a stuffing machine would allow the newspapers to be printed later and therefore to include later news. In some cases, it would be desirable to have the jacket fed directly from the printing press. In this case, the jacket contains the late news while the inserts are either preprinted or also fed directly from a printing press. A conventional newspaper press operating at full speed can deliver about 70,000 newspapers per hour, so a faster stuffer would be clearly advantageous.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,018 shows a stuffer which can operate at about 40,000 newspapers per hour. This stuffer also has a total of sixteen stations. There are two jacket feeding stations diametrically opposite each other. An opener station is located immediately adjacent each jacket feeding station. Five insert feeding stations follow each opener station, and there are two delivery stations, one for each group of insert feeding stations. Each delivery station includes a conveyor for carrying the assembled newspapers away. The rotor in this stuffer moves at the same speed as in the machine able to produce 20,000 newspapers per hour (each paper having 1 jacket and 13 inserts), but because there are two jacket feeders and only five inserts per jacket, the newspaper output rate is doubled. Therefore, this machine can produce 40,000 newspapers per hour where each paper comprises one jacket and five inserts. Moreover, in this machine it is possible using the techniques shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,246 to inhibit one of the delivery stations and to use the second jacket feeding station to feed an insert. In this way it is possible to assemble newspapers having a jacket and eleven inserts at a rate of 20,000 newpapers per hour and to deliver them to a single delivery conveyor.
There are some problems not solved by these newspaper stuffing machines. The first is speed. Even though it is possible now to assemble newspapers at 40,000 newspapers per hour, this speed is little more than half the output rate of modern newspaper presses. In addition, there is a great deal of congestion around these newspaper stuffing machines. Each insert feeding station is filled manually with inserts from a pallet on the floor adjacent the machine. Since each station feeds an insert different from the insert fed by the immediately neighboring stations, there are at least ten separate pallets around the machine. Furthermore, in the machine capable of assembling 40,000 newspapers per hour, there are two separate delivery conveyors, and if the assembled newspapers are to be bundled and palletized two separate sets of equipment for these purposes are also required.
The present invention provides great flexibility in the size of newspapers it can assemble and the rate at which it does so. For example, a machine constructed according to the present invention can assemble newspapers at twice the rate that previously had been possible from a stuffing machine having a single delivery conveyor. Specifically, the present invention makes rates of 40,000 newspapers per hour or more possible from a single delivery station and conveyor. In addition, when operating at this high speed the newspapers may be larger than previously possible, having six inserts rather than five with no physical enlargement of the machine. The ability to assemble newspapers using a machine having a single delivery conveyor at the same rate that was only possible in the past using a machine with two delivery conveyors reduces the congestion in the newspaper plant, and can simplify handling of the assembled papers. Moreover, as will become clear from the description below, the arrangement of the stations provided by the present invention also serves to reduce congestion.
According to the present invention, sixteen stations are arranged above a rotor carrying a plurality of pockets. The first two stations are jacket feeding stations, followed by a single opener station, followed by six pairs of insert feeding stations and a single delivery station. In a first mode of operation, the present invention assembles a newspaper having a jacket and six inserts. In this mode the machine is operated as follows: the hopper at the first jacket feeding station feeds a jacket into every other pocket that moves below it (the odd pockets), while the hopper at the second jacket feeding station feeds into the pockets not filled at the first station (the even pockets). The opener station opens the jackets in both the odd and even pockets. Then the hopper at the first of each pair of insert feeding stations feeds an insert into the odd pockets and the hopper at the second of each pair of insert feeding stations feeds an insert into the even pockets as the pockets move past the stations. The single delivery accepts the assembled papers from both sets of pockets. Because the stations are feeding to alternate pockets, it is possible to move the rotor which carries the pockets faster than in prior art stuffers.
Two advantages result from this method and arrangement. First, one delivery station and one opener station necessary in the prior art device have been eliminated. These two stations are now free to be used as insert feeding stations. Therefore, the assembled newspaper can have six inserts instead of five.
The second advantage arises from the fact that the stations are paired with the hoppers of each pair feeding the same insert. As noted above, the hoppers are usually loaded manually from a supply of inserts located on pallets around the machine. Each pallet has a supply of one kind of insert. In a stuffer where the hopper at each station feeds an insert different from that fed at adjacent stations, a separate pallet with an insert supply is required for each station. In the machine provided by the present invention each pair of adjacent hoppers feeds the same kind of insert, so a single pallet of inserts supplies each pair of stations. This reduces by half the number of pallets which must be located around the perimeter of the stuffing machine.
A machine constructed according to the present invention has operating flexibility. It may be operated in a second mode to assemble newspapers with a jacket and twelve inserts. In this case, only one of the jacket feeding stations is used at a time. The hopper at the jacket feeding station feeds a jacket into every pocket, the jacket is opened at the opener station, the hoppers at each of the twelve insert stations feed a different insert, and the delivery station receives the assembled papers and delivers them onto a conveyor.
When operating in the second mode the insert feeding stations are feeding into every pocket, and the rotor moves only one half as fast as in the first mode of operation. The machine includes a two-speed transmission which is shifted to change the rotor speed relative to the hopper speed when changing modes. In addition, the timing, but not the frequency, of the hoppers must be changed when changing modes. Because the rotor speed and hopper timing may be easily changed, it is easy to switch between modes of operation. Thus, the present invention provides a machine with more flexibility than prior art machines.
A second embodiment of the present invention provides a machine with four jacket feeding stations, two openers, eight insert feeding stations and two delivery stations. This machine has the flexibility to operate in four modes, one assembling 80,000 or more newpapers per hour where each newspaper includes a jacket and two inserts delivered to two conveyors. This mode is particularly attractive where the jacket and both inserts are fed directly from a printing press. In a second mode, the machine assembles 40,000 newspapers per hour or more where each newspaper includes a jacket and four inserts delivered to two conveyors. In a third mode, the machine assembles 40,000 newspapers per hour or more where each newspaper includes a jacket and five inserts delivered to a single conveyor; and in a fourth mode, the machine assembles newspapers at the rate of 20,000 newspapers per hour or more where each newspaper includes a jacket and ten inserts.